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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
Women's Lacrosse Takes on League Rival Penn on Wednesday
April 19, 2011 | Women's Lacrosse
No. 15 Princeton at No. 8 Penn
Gametime: Wednesday, April 20 at 7 p.m.
2011 Records: Princeton (6-5, 3-1), Penn (9-3, 5-0)
Series Began: 1974
Series Record: Princeton leads 18-17-3
Last Meeting: Penn won 13-9 (4/30/11)
Streak: Penn won last five games
LINKS: Live Video l Live Audio l Live Stats
PRINCETON, N.J. (4/19/11) – The Princeton women's lacrosse team faces league rival Penn in a midweek showdown betwewn the No. 8 and No. 15 teams in the country on Wednesday, April 20. The opening draw is set for 7 p.m., at Franklin Field.
The game will be webstreamed on GoPrincetonTigers.tv for subscribers. Fans can also listen to the live audio feed with action being called by Ed Benkin and followed live stats free of charge.
Princeton holds a slim 18-17-3 advantage in the all-time series with Penn that dates back to 1974. The Quakers have won the last five games including a 13-9 decision in the Ivy League Tournament semifinals last year at Franklin Field. Prior to that five-game stretch the Tigers won 13 straight from 1994-2006.
Penn sits atop the Ivy League standings with a 5-0 record, one week after three teams were undefeated in the Ivy League with Dartmouth and Princeton included.
Penn, Dartmouth and Harvard have all secured places in the Ivy League Tournament leaving one place open and Princeton fighting for that spot. The Tigers' fate is in their hands – they need to win one of their final three games to grab that last spot. A win over Columbia would also give the Tigers that spot, regardless of the decisions of the Penn and Dartmouth games.
Princeton is 6-5 on the season and ranked No. 15 in the nation. The Tigers lost their first Ivy League game to Harvard last Saturday, sliding them into fourth place in the league standings at 3-1. The Tigers average 10.45 goals per game and hold teams to 10 gpg. Princeton is scoring on 58 percent of its shots on goal.
Sophomore Jaci Gassaway sits atop the scoring column with 18 goals and a team-high 10 assists for 28 points. Senior Lizzy Drumm has a team-best 25 goals and two helpers for 27 points and leads the team in draw controls with 25. Junior Cassie Pyle is third in scoring with 22 points, followed by sophomore Sam Ellis with 18 and junior Barb Previ and sophomore Charlotte Davis with 17 points apiece. Senior goalie Erin Tochihara has played every minutes in net and has made 98 saves and allowed 110 goals for a .471 save percentage and a 9.91 goals against average, ranking third in the league in both categories. Junior defender Lindsey deButts leads the league in ground balls with 28 and is second in the league in caused turnovers with 17.
Penn is 9-3 overall and ranked No. 8 in the nation and is 5-0 when playing at Franklin Field this season. Two of the Quakers three losses were to No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 Northwestern, while also being upset by Johns Hopkins – a team Princeton defeated earlier in the season. Two of Penn's conference wins were by just one goal, defeating Harvard 9-8 and Dartmouth 10-9 last Saturday. The Quakers rank seventh in the league in goals per game with just 8.92, but sport the best goals against in the league at 7.92 gpg.
Junior Erin Brennan leads the team in scoring with 26 goals and 10 assists for 36 points. Sophomore Caroline Bunting has 21 points on 14 goals and seven assists and senior Giulia Giordano has 20 points on 15 goals and five assists. The pair is the team's leaders in caused turnovers. Senior Bridget Waclawik, freshman Tory Bensen and sophomore Meredith Cain are also in double figures in points. Sophomore Maddie Poplawski leads the team in draw controls with 29, winning 25 percent of her team's draws while adding nine goals. Junior goalie Emily Leitner has started in all 12 games and has made 78 saves and allowed 94 goals for a 7.94 goals against average and a .453 save percentage.
Last Time We Met (April 30, 2010)
No. 5 Penn used a five-goal run in the middle of the second half to pull away from Princeton and earn a 13-9 win in the Ivy League Women's Lacrosse Tournament semifinal on Friday, April 30 at Franklin Field.
Princeton came out loose and looked confident as the first half began at Franklin Field. Senior Jenna Washabaugh won the opening draw and Princeton would maintain possession for the next five minutes. Sophomore Cassie Pyle had a free position attempt at 28:09 but the shot went wide. Penn got the loose ball but Princeton forced the Quakers into a turnover before the midline for a failed clear. Getting the ball back, senior Kristin Morrison gave the Tigers the 1-0 lead when she blasted a shot from outside the critical scoring area past goalkeeper Emily Szelest at 26:54.
The Tigers would maintain that lead for the next 19 minutes. Junior goalie Erin Tochihara was a force in the first half thwarting all of Penn's attempts during that time, including two low shots that the Quakers used less than two weeks ago as Tochihara's weak spot in a 12-5 Penn win.
Erin Brennan got a shot on goal past the Princeton defense at 7:53 when she picked up a Courtney Lubbe pass. Emma Spiro won the next draw and the Quakers quickly took the lead with a goal at 7:26.Maddie Poplawski delivered a low sling shot to give Penn its first lead of the game from the left side of the fan's rim.
Brennan added her second of the afternoon at 1:54 to give Penn at 3-1 lead at halftime.
Penn outshot Princeton 16-5 in the first frame due to the excellent play of the defense, however the Tigers couldn't get the same rhythm on the other end, with a 50 percent clearing rate and eight turnovers.
Penn made it a 5-1 game scoring two goals within 53 seconds. Megan Smith made it a four-goal game 25 seconds into the second half, nailing Penn's first shot on the first possession. The Quakers would win the next draw and Ali DeLuca put away a goal at 28:42.
Princeton wouldn't go away quietly scoring three straight to make it a 5-4 game with 23 minutes to play.
Freshman Charlotte Davis scored at 26:51 of the second half going over the left shoulder of Szelest. The goal came just seconds after a Pyle eight-meter shot was saved by Szelest but the ball rolled out of bounds and Princeton received the ball.
Sophomore Barb Previ cut the Tigers' deficit to just two at 24:48 when she ran across the goal mouth and turned to bring her stick across her body and lofted a shot over her left shoulder beating Szelest.
Morrison added her second of the game with a high shot over the shoulder of Szelest to make it 5-4 at 23:02.
DeLuca scored her second of the game at 19:27 when she came around the back of the net and delivered a high shot from the left side.
Penn was on the receiving end of back-to-back free position attempts with less than 18 minutes to play. The first attempt was passed off to a teammate and then back again for a shot that hit the pipe. The Quakers got its free position attempt on that play, and once again they passed the ball off to a teammate but instead of going back again, the receiver turned and fired a shot into the back of the net to give Penn at 7-4 lead at 18:29.
Meredith Cain gave Penn a four-goal lead at 15:06 when she picked up a feed from Keely Langdon on the right side and rocketed a shot into the net.
Junior Lizzy Drumm answered back less than a minute later with an eight-meter goal after Pyle won the next draw.
Penn went on a five-goal run to take a 13-5 lead with nine minutes to play putting the game out of reach for Princeton.
Senior Kaitlyn Perrelle would take over for Tochihara in net for the final 8:42 but would not be tested as Princeton would keep possession for much of the final minutes of the game.
Previ ended Penn's run and sparked a four-goal Tiger run with a tally at 7:07. Morrison and Drumm would score 46 seconds apart with less than two minutes to play and Pyle added the final goal of the game with 15 seconds remaining.
Penn had a 15-9 advantage in draw controls, while both teams had 13 ground balls apiece. Penn had a 15-14 edge in shots in the second half.
Morrison finished the game with three goals, while Previ and Drumm had two tallies each. Tochihara finished with 11 saves on 24 shots.
DeLuca finished with four goals and four assists, while Brennan tallied four goals and Cain had two. Szelest stopped six of 15 shots.
Princeton concludes its season with a 6-10 overall record.